Pennsylvania sinkhole forces family to evacuate

A Pennsylvania family that evacuated from their house after a massive sinkhole opened up under their driveway is back at home Tuesday.

Doris Jenkins, of Bethlehem Township, Pa., said she was back in her home Tuesday after officials oversaw excavation of the sinkhole.

A 25- to 30-foot wide sinkhole, 10- to 12-feet deep, opened up under Jenkins' driveway at about 4 a.m. Sunday, forcing her, her daughter and granddaughter out of their home.

“I didn’t see anything at first because it was dark,” Jenkins said. “But when I went around the corner, I saw it caved in. I told my daughter [to] get the car off the driveway."

Township manager Howard Kutzler was unable to tell the Lehigh Express-Times if the cave-in was related to work done on a sewer line earlier that week on the same street as Jenkins' home.

Sinkholes are reportedly common in the Lehigh Valley, about 70 miles north of Philadelphia, because of its porous limestone ground.